Related Articles

• Warning: Danglers Ahead

  2796 readersHere's a year-end sampling of one of our most common grammatical errors. Remember that when a participle construction, appositive or other modifying phrase starts a sentence, the person or thing being described should generally come directly after the modifying phrase.

• Loose Connections

  2195 readersDangling participles are popping up everywhere we turn. Remember, normally the participle or other modifying phrase should be immediately followed by the person or thing being described. My colleague Ken Paul pointed out these two recent missteps:

• The Case of the Misplaced Modifier

  1916 readersAs a freelance editor and proofreader, the misplaced or dangling modifier is a common writing error I see. Original Post: The Case of the Misplaced Modifier Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook.

• 7 More Fixes for Dangling Modifiers

  6085 readersSome time ago, I pointed out the perils of dangling modifiers, presenting sample sentences and offering annotated revisions. Unfortunately, my stock of such specimens, discovered in the course of my editing work and in leisure reading alike, has grown rather than diminished. I therefore here inflict another set of them on you, one of as

• 7 More Fixes for Dangling Modifiers

  5504 readersSome time ago, I pointed out the perils of dangling modifiers, presenting sample sentences and offering annotated revisions. Unfortunately, my stock of such specimens, discovered in the course of my editing work and in leisure reading alike, has grown rather than diminished. I therefore here inflict another set of them on you, one of as

• A Guide to Elliptical Constructions

  5206 readersAn elliptical construction is one in which a word or phrase implied by context is omitted from a sentence, usually because it is a repetition of a preceding word or phrase. The three principle types of elliptical construction, with the omitted text enclosed in brackets, follow: Noun ellipsis: “I went swimming, and John went [swimming], too.” Verb

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  An Introduction to Basic Phrase Structure Trees

  2275 readersNoun PhraseA noun phrase must include a noun (determiner, adjective and prepositional phrase are optional). Alternatively, a noun phrase can be a pronoun that represents a noun.Verb PhraseA verb phrase must include a verb (auxiliary, noun phrase or adj...

• 7 Dos for Dangling Modifiers

  1126 readersIn each of the sentences below, the noun phrase immediately following the introductory phrase is not the referent for that phrase; you have to keep working through the sentence and locate another noun, or, sometimes, surgically separate a “(noun)’s (noun)” phrase to isolate the correct one. Original Post: 7 Dos for Dangling Modifiers Your eBook: Click

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  Syntax with Sherlock – Sentence Ambiguity Illustrated and Diagrammed

  2429 readers*For simplicity's sake, because the phrase "using binoculars" functions like a prepositional phrase, I have taken the liberty of changing "using" to "with" for the diagrams.Here is a syntactic diagram of the version of the sentence pictured on the left...

• A Plague of Danglers

  4504 readersThe problem comes in many guises, but the basic formula is familiar. When a modifying phrase precedes the main clause of a sentence, the person or thing being described should come right after that phrase.